of sand and pork buns
by Scathach24
Summary: "When I first met Gaara he seemed sad and lost. It seemed he was as desperate for a friend as I was. So I gave him a smile and a pork bun and sat next to him on the swing-set" Ayame was a terminally ill girl, not likely to see her eleventh birthday. Gaara was a lonely boy who just wanted to experience love. Together they complete each other. OCXGaara. You've been warned.


My family had just moved to Suna, the village hidden in sand. Well no, we had actually been living there for a few months. I was six years old. But I was a sickly child. I couldn't go out much and the doctors all said I would be lucky if I lived to age ten.

He looked so sad and alone when I first saw him. Like a kicked puppy who just wanted someone to be there for him.

A bunch of the other kids were at the park playing with a ball. He was holding a stuffed bear and looking at them longingly from a swing-set. I was too scared to ask if I could join, so I walked up to him instead.

"Why don't you join them?" I asked tilting my head slightly to the side.

"They think I'm a monster" He looked down, on the verge of tears. "They hate me"

"Well that's dumb" I kicked the ground sending up a small flurry of sand. I grabbed one of his pale hands and examined it "You don't look like a monster. See? Our hands are almost the same."

He smiled at me like I'd given him something precious and irreplaceable. He said his name was Gaara. I said mine was Ayame. I gave him one of the pork buns my mother packed for me and sat on the swing next to his. The ball that the others were playing with got stuck on a roof. I watched as my new friend made a column of sand retrieve the ball. It landed in his hands.

"here" he said quietly holding the ball out.

They called him creepy and began to run away in horror. "lets get out of here!"

Gaara held out the same hand I examined "no, wait! Don't run away!"

They didn't listen. Sand started to grab them by their ankles and drag them back. I couldn't do anything but watch. A wave of sand launched itself at a little girl with a ponytail, but someone jumped in front of her before she could get hurt.

"No Gaara!" he said "You can't do this!"

Gaara seemed to know this man. "Yashemaru"

While Yashemaru was making sure the other kids were okay, I looked at Gaara. "You control the sand?"

"You think I'm a monster too, now." He looked at me "Don't you Ayame?"

I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him. He was only a bit bigger then me and the way he stiffened up it's like he had never been hugged before. "People do things when they get upset. Things they don't mean. Your not a monster, Gaara. Your just human, and your probably lonely"

He was shaking when he wrapped his arms around me and returned the hug.

It was on that day Gaara became my best friend.

"Hello Ayame" Gaara said walking up to me with a little bundle. I smiled at him and set down the book I was reading. I was sick yet again and confined to bed. Gaara sat down on the corner. "I brought you some pork buns and some medicine."

"Thanks Gaara" I said picking up the bundle and unwrapping it. True to his word inside were six perfect little pork buns and a bottle of medicine. I picked up two of them, taking a bite out of one and handing the other to Gaara.

"Are you feeling any better today?" He asked

"Yeah" I said smiling at him "Mother said that I might even get to walk around in the gardens, later."

Gaara always made a point to come to my house when I wasn't able to leave. My parents had arranged something with the Kazekage. My mother and father were nervous at first- I think Gaara scared them too. It seemed that I was a positive influence on Gaara. We complimented each other. Even if that wasn't the case I would sneak out to see him if it came to that, and I know he would do the same for me.

"Ooh, do the sand thing" I practically begged.

He held out his hands and sand came out of this gourd he had taken to wearing on his back. I grinned broadly as he made pictures, shapes, and words in the air using the sand.

I gave Gaara a hug. He was about to leave for the chunin exams, I would miss him so bad.

We were both twelve now. I would never be a ninja, because of my health, but that didn't make me any less supportive of Gaara. I wanted to see him do the things I could not. I wanted him to succeed in everything he set his heart too. For the both of us.

Whenever we walked together people looked at me with a mix of fear, sympathy, and like they had no idea how I could be so stupid. I wasn't stupid though. I knew that my best friend would never hurt me intentionally.

Before he and his siblings set off I held his hand. "Be safe and kick some ass for me"

"I'll do my best Ayame" he said with one of his rare half smiles.

We are now sixteen and Gaara is the Kazekage.

I have a room in the building and Gaara will visit when he can. One night he came to visit he sat down next to me when I was bedridden and we did our pork bun ritual. We talked a little, he made some pictures with his sand for me, but he had to complete some paper work so he left early.

I looked out the window at some point and my heart almost stopped. Gaara was flying on a sand cloud doing battle with a blond ninja on a giant white bird. Holy crap! The blond man can make things explode.

At some point I couldn't see anything. There was a giant sand cloud suspended over the village. When the cloud moved away I saw Gaara fall, limp and unmoving. The opposing shinobi caught him with the tail feathers of his bird. He started to fly away with my best friend.

I ran out barefoot. I chased after them in the direction of the bird, shrieking Gaara's name at the top of my lungs. I fell at some point and couldn't get up. When I coughed blood speckled my hand. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched the damn bird disappear.

Gaara's brother Kankouro was poisoned chasing after the men who took him. The men are part of a group known as the Akatsuki. I finally was able to meet Naruto Uzumaki.

My first thought was that he was a dumb ass. But if there was even the slightest chance he could bring Gaara back he was okay to me.

When one of his teammates was working on Kankouro I introduced myself to him. "My name is Ayame. Gaara has been my best friend since we were small. I don't care what you have to do. Bring him back to me."

Naruto nodded and I walked away.

I saw them.

Gaara was being supported by Naruto and Kankouro. He looked to be in some kind of daze. I clutched the top of the bundle and broke off running toward them. I wrapped my arms around him.

"Your okay, I'm so so happy" I shuddered with sobs.

He returned the hug "I wouldn't dare leave you, Ayame"

I wiped my eyes and set the bundle in his hand. "I brought pork buns"

He hugs me and chuckles lightly, half breath- half sound.

I'm worse than usual.

I make Gaara hold my hand, but I'm too sick to eat pork buns. He's reading to me again.

"Gaara?"

"Yes Ayame?" he asks softly

"Can you take me to the garden on the roof?" I cough violently. "I want to see the flowers."

"Then you'll see them" He bundled me up in blankets and picked me up. I think half the people in our village would have crapped themselves if they saw Gaara being this gentle and compassionate.

"Thank you" I mumble and I rest my head on his chest. I find the sound of his heart soothing and peaceful. We arrive at the garden and Gaara finds a bench near most of the flowers. He holds me on his lap. I'm crying silently "I don't want to die"

"Is that what the doctors told you, Ayame?" I nod. Gaara pushed some of my hair off my face. "They also said it was unlikely you'd live to be ten. We're eighteen now."

I pressed my lips to his. "Thank you Gaara. I love you"

He returned the gesture "I love you too Ayame"

It was the spring of next year that we were married.

He looked so handsome standing there, smiling, as my father walked me up. We held each others hands and said our vows. Then the ceremony ended and we kissed in front of everyone.

Naruto gave Gaara a "man hug" and congratulated him, loudly. The sixth Hokage is a little weird, but he's nice enough once you adjust to the volume.

I admit that I actually cried a little when Temari hugged me and said that she was happy Gaara knew me, and that I'd been there for him. Kankouro wrapped an arm around me and said that I was good for his little brother.

Later when Gaara carried me into our house I found potted plants and flowers all over the place. And sitting on the table was a small tray of pork buns.

We have three children. Two little boys and a girl. Karura, Yashemaru, and Akito.

Karura and Akito have their fathers red hair and dark rimmed eyes. Yashemaru has my icy blue hair.

When Yahemaru was born Gaara didn't want to hold him at first. He was scared that he might hurt our baby. So we held him together until Gaara was confident enough to cradle our little boy in his arms. I'll never forget the look on his face as Yashemaru smiled at him, pulled at his hair, and put his tiny hand on Gaara's kanji.

When we found out I was pregnant again four years later we were both overjoyed. Nine months later Karura and Akito were born. Amazingly enough Karura and Yashemaru can control the sand too. Akito however was born to be a puppet master. His uncle was ecstatic.

Karura and Akito are five, and Yashemaru is nine and just became a genin. I'll sometimes wonder what the people who called Gaara a monster would say and do if they saw the way he interacts with his children. He'll throw them in the air and catch them with his sand. He holds them when they get scared. He loves them unconditionally. He's determined to be everything to them that his own father never was.

Fortunately they are all very healthy.

I'm sick and in bed yet again. Gaara is visiting with the Hokage so it's just us and the maids.

Karura makes pictures with sand, Akito demonstrates what his uncle showed him on his puppet, Yashemaru shows me new jutsu he learned at the academy. When Gaara comes he sits on the bed and holds me.

I'm lucky to have him. I really am.


End file.
